


Broppy Love Oneshots

by LoverofLove



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls: The Beat Goes On (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25906177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoverofLove/pseuds/LoverofLove
Summary: Collection of Branch and Poppy's love story oneshots. Broppy Fluff Ahead.
Relationships: Branch/Branch/Queen Poppy (Trolls), Poppy & Branch
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Thank You Branch

I know it's been awhile since I posted on here but this idea just screamed to be shared with my fellow Broppy shippers. I am wanting to do a collection of Broppy oneshots so if any of you have any ideas (Broppy shipping, the fluffier, sweeter and romantic the better cause that is the type of stories I love to write :)) please include it in your reviews. Thanks.  
P.S. I have "Trolls: The Beat Goes On" seasons 1-4 so if there's an episode you think could be Broppy, I'm in. 

Disclaimer: I don't own the Trolls so please don't sue me. 

My version of "The Giver" episodes from "Trolls: The Beat Goes On" tv show. Sorry if I made Branch a little depressing but that is the path my fingers and imagination took me. I am also warning you that I am a long story kind of writer.

"Whew it took me so many years but the mystery of who "The Giver" was is finally solved (happy dance) though to be honest I was 8 when all this happened and there's no way Dad would let little me roam Trolls Village without him. Hopefully Branch won't destroy my 2nd "Thank You" card like he has to every one of my homemade invitations (ones I made painstakingly personalized to hopefully entice him to join my friends and me in our celebrations of life, love, laughter and merriment) in the past.

I can't believe I didn't put the clues together earlier based on the gifts Branch has bestowed on me over the years; little treasures he clearly made with his own hands, to figure out his identity sooner. I know every Troll in the village and none of them are as sweet, sensitive and considerate towards others as Branch is, not to be mean or judgmental to my friends who I really care about but it's the truth.

Now that I think about it; a card is not the appropriate "thank you" either, too small time and not big enough to show Branch how thankful or grateful I am that he took so much of his time and energy from his daily routine of keeping Troll Village safe with all his booby traps and safety precautions as well as making sure his bunker is stocked for whatever life throws at him (my lovable pessimist) to make each gift special for every single Troll in the village.   
This "thank you" has to be perfect; it's another way to show Branch how much I love him, how truly special he is to me and that I want him in my life permanently. I have been in love with him since we both were children- puppy love which grew into true love (deep, unconditional and true)- which is the reason I pestered him into joining my world so much with my invitations and requests to spend time with me and our friends even though I knew I was driving him absolutely crazy doing it.

So it's time to put my thinking cap on of the perfect - Branch approved-from the heart-gushy but not over the top in case he doesn't feel the same way about me-thank you gift that hopefully doesn't take too long to make. Ok Poppy, there's no pressure but this is the single most important crucial thing you have and will probably ever create so it needs to be extra super duper extraordinary added to the weight that this is for the Troll you love; not helping me now I am extra stressed.

I could make something that memorializes Branch's beloved grandma, may she rest in peace, ( I wish I was old enough to remember her cause from what my dad has told me about her she was an amazing, one-of-a-kind, sweet, sassy, mother figure to everyone, kind and generous Troll who loved everyone she came into contact with especially her Branch.) Hmm maybe not such a grand idea; I don't want Branch to be so depressed and sad after being reminded of the death of his beloved grandma that he loses his color again, yeah that's not romantic or thoughtful at all so axe that idea. 

Come on brain, think of something that shows Branch how much I love him, my sweet, sensitive, brave, smart, survivalist and lovable worrywart. Hmm I could do a poem (though it won't be half as romantic, poetic or go straight to your heart and soul as my Branch's poems, I should know as I have written each and every one of them in my scrapbook diary and re-read them each night before going to sleep) or even write him a "Poppy-Branch original" song. Ohh that's not a bad idea; singing is a really good way to communicate feelings to someone with a guarantee of no stuttering, mixing up your words or Branch misinterpreting what I am trying to tell him."

To help get her thoughts in order and coherent Poppy looked around her pod at some of the gifts her Branch had given her over the years which were proudly displayed all around for her personal daily enjoyment: a portrait of Poppy's family; her mom and dad gazing lovingly and in utter awe of baby Poppy fast asleep in her pale pink blanket; painted with homemade paint made of egg yolks, crushed berries, vinegar and water in such vivid colors that the picture seemed to jump from the frame.

Looking at it was bittersweet for her; on one hand it made her miss her mom even more (Petunia was an unfortunate victim of Trollisce along with hundreds of others when Poppy was an infant) but it also made her heart fill with love at seeing the woman she loves very much and who everyone says she looks like. It hung in a place of honor beside Poppy's bed so that it felt like her mom was watching over her day and night to shower her guidance and love on her daughter and Poppy talked to her mom each and every day.

There was a small collage of the Snack Pack and Poppy made out of yarn depicting the many entertaining and fun parties and adventures they had over the years. The whole thing was made of many different colors that must have taken Branch weeks to months to gather all the animals, plants and vegetables fibers needed to make the many pictures and got lots of boo-boos from poking himself numerously with the nails as he created this masterpiece (ones she wished she could have kissed each and every one of them to "heal" them). 

It also hung in her bedroom which caused her to brainstorm ways to persuade Branch to make another portrait of just the two of them; she didn't care what material it was made out of as long as she had a picture of the Troll of her dreams and herself to drool over and gaze at lovingly daily as she dreamed about the day when she could openly show and express her unconditional love to Branch and know he felt the exact same way. 

Then there was a bouquet of paper flowers in soft pastel colors of purple, pink, blue, yellow and white that smelled as if the Bumble Bees had pollinated them with the pollen from actual blossoms and then gathered them up for Branch to give to her wrapped with magenta ribbons. They might not have been real flowers but Poppy still decided that the flowers needed to be in the prettiest vase she had presented on her dinning room table to be the first thing someone saw when entering her pod.

Last of all were small rocks that had been shaped into hearts and handwritten with uplifting, positive and cute sayings on them such as: "", "Every time I see you I fall in love all over again.", " Your life is your story. Write it well"."My favorite part of the day is when I get to talk to you", "I love you to the moon & back", "I promise to handle your heart with care & treasure it with love" and "Every time I see you I fall in love all over again." 

The rocks sat proudly in a straight line on her windowsill where Poppy could read them over and over again to her heart's content to remind herself there was a Troll out there who loved her to the moon and back which never failed to bring a smile to her heart, a love song out of her lips and happy dancing either all over her pod or the village. Not that Poppy singing and dancing happily all over the village was a new sight but seeing her in such a love daze over Branch who everyone knew the two of them had found true love with each other put an extra wide and brighter smile on their faces. 

She thought it was incredibly sweet that once a year Branch delivered homemade gifts (gifts he made special for each person according to their interests) to each and every Troll in the village under the cover of darkness without wanting a "Thank You" in return. It was also kind of bittersweet that Branch went through so many years of loneliness in his bunker after his grandma's death because he truly felt he was unworthy of ever being happy again so he became extremely safety conscious, put a wall around his heart from ever feeling any type of emotion except for loneliness. 

But Branch still found it in his heart and "busy" schedule to give gifts to his fellow Trolls, who at times, were not the nicest, friendliest or supportive of his difficult childhood after the age of 4 and the emotional issues it provided because it made him too different and distant from them, and bring them joy and excitement for a night. Now it was his turn to get those same feelings and to feel as special as he made their fellow Trolls which will hopefully happen when he opens Poppy's gift especially made for him.

But first Poppy wanted to see what "The Giver" gave her this year:

Poppy,  
There's so much I wish I could tell you. I could start from the day I first fell in love with you and all the reasons why anyone let alone me would fall instantly in love with you but I am extremely fearful of your reaction to a Troll like me being head over heels in love with a Troll as pure, precious and beloved by all as you are so I guess I am destined to love you from afar. 

I have a shelf full of journals where I poured my heart and soul into writing down my true feelings with pages and pages of poems and love quotes that I wish I could recite as I look deep into those pools of magenta beauty that takes my breath away each and every time and lay my feelings of true love at your feet to do with as you will; praying with everything in me that you feel the exact same. 

Here my lady love are some of the words my soul wishes it could say to you: I promise to handle your heart with the upmost care and treasure it like a precious jewel. I will walk with you on the path of life till the end of time. The power of your smile should never be underestimated as it rivals the sun and the brightest clap bugs and makes any Trolls' heart brighten from inside out. Time and time again I have to pinch myself when you are next to me cause there's no way that someone as angelic and precious as you could ever exist let alone want to be near a troll like me daily. 

You are my dream come true; believe me even in my hermit years I dreamed about being with my soulmate announcing our love to the whole Troll Village and us being together till the end of time.You are the one for me; I have never been so sure of anything in all my life that I want to be your everything from your best friend,your King, your partner in life, your confidant, your sounding board, your duet and dance partner, your protector and of course your one true love till the end of our days. I love you Queen Poppy with all my heart and soul.  
Love;  
Me

"Aww my Branch is so super duper sweet, sensitive and a romantic and I am the extremely lucky Troll who gets to see and be treated to this side of Branch (Yeah me! Happy dance party) Now to work on my "thank you" gift for my man. Ohh I know; since Branch confessed his love to me through a heartfelt beautiful and romantic song in that evil Chef's pot when things looked grim and I was utterly heartbroken over my entire village being sent to their death but Branch sang me that beautiful, heartwarming, inspiring song that seemed like it was written for my ears only and made the entire world disappear; I will tell him I love him the same way"

Branch was in his bunker repeatedly banging his head against his bed: "I can't believe that after 10 years of utter secrecy I am outed by the one Troll I didn't want to ever know my secret; her gifts have been basically my love and adoration right there in the open and now Poppy will definitely know how I truly feel for her and all because of my wrapping of the presents. I know that my wrapping isn't the best but come on it's harder then people think to cut the right size of paper to fit the gift then have to wrestle with the tape and the paper so that neither rip so everyone should just be happy that their presents were wrapped at all. 

Now that Poppy knows that I am "The Giver" and all those gifts I gave her were my way of saying "I love you" things will be incredibly awkward and tense between Poppy and me when we spend time together to the point where my girl (as sweet, sensitive, positive, adorkable and lovable as she is) will tell me in the nicest, politest and sweetest way that she doesn't feel the same way I do but we can be still be friends.

To hear those words from the troll I love will feel like a sword stabbing me repeatedly in the stomach and heart and be just as painful as losing Grandma; it will probably make me lose my color and drag me back down the spiral of depression so that I retreat into my bunker for the rest of my life till I die with only Garry by my side in my bed, wow even my imagination is kind of depressing me right now. 

But because I love Poppy with all my heart and not having her in my life will also be just as heartbreaking I will try my hardest to just be her "friend" and lock my true feelings for her deep down inside so that I will be a shell of myself but at least I will still have my beautiful ray of sunshine in my life so tonight I will ready myself to have my heart shattered into tiny pieces when I see Poppy tomorrow and the life I will have afterwards of being just Poppy's friend and have all my dreams and heart crushed in one day.

OMG I just realized that I practically poured my heart out to Poppy in my stupid letter with those equally stupid love quotes and wrote "I love you", I am such a blockhead. I have got to get that letter back and as quickly as possible before Poppy reads it or I will be mortally embarrassed and never be able to show my face again in Troll Village, hopefully she is watching the Snack Pack open their gifts so I am able to slip quietly and discreetly into Poppy's pod and back to the bunker without anyone seeing me. Wish me luck Garry"

Branch felt like a ninja in his black hoodie stealthily moving through his tunnels and through Misty Meadows using the trees and bushes as cover for the Trolls who had ventured from their pods after Poppy's alarms went off as he was delivering his gifts (he had meant to set them off since he knew Poppy and Smidge were "confronting" Cooper in Misty Meadows and he had developed a skill of being so silent and stealthy that no one knew he was there so why not have a little fun in the process?) and were now eagerly walking back to their pods to uncover what "The Giver" had given them. 

But soon enough he found his way to Poppy's pod only to find it completely empty and dark and his search through the small Pod turned up nothing so Branch had to begrudgingly trudge home saddened and downtrodden that he wasn't able to find his "prize" which was a clear indication that Poppy had not only been home to read the note but was on her way to talk to her about it right not so not only was he was going home empty handed but he had to have one of the most difficult conversations he has had in his lifetime with the woman he loves tonight. Looks like I will be crying myself to sleep clutching Garry tonight and for many weeks afterwards; oh joy.

Branch was so drawn into his thoughts, fears and well of rising sadness that he didn't notice a familiar figure creeping alongside him as he made his way back to his bunker until he had the wind practically knocked out of him as someone jumped on his back knocking them both down to the ground. He barely was able to turn over before he was smothered by Poppy hugging the air out of him while raining kisses all over his face while saying: "my sweet troll" "my secretly romantic guy" "my sensitive lovable guy" over and over again.

Since Branch was thoroughly raptured at the visible evidence that the women he loves obviously shared the same feelings (why else would Poppy be raining kisses all over his face and cooing sweet nothings in his ear?) all he could do was wrap his arms around his love's waist and halt her words by capturing Poppy's mouth with his own and kissing the air right out of both of them while pouring all his love into that one meaningful kiss until both Poppy and Branch couldn't hold their breath any long so breathing was necessary. 

"No fair I have so much more that I need to say; you can't kiss me until my mind goes blank so that I forget my own name. I spent a lot of time writing this song pouring out my heart and soul and now I am having a really hard time remembering the lyrics cause your kiss turned my brain to mush. Ok brain is returning to normal as is my heartbeat so now if you would ever so kindly let me go for a quick minute it's my turn to pour my heart out to the man I love but don't worry my love after I am done with my song I will be back in your arms before you can even blink."

After Branch reluctantly let go of Poppy, not before he planted a short sweet kiss on her lips, she reached into her hair and pulled out her guitar and began to strum softly as her angelic voice started its hypnotic,soothing and loving spell over the lovestruck, soft eyed love radiating from every inch of his body Branch as she sat on a log listening to his lady love and absorbing each word of the love song that was dedicated and written especially for him. 

(Sorry if this stinks; writing a poem is hard)  
We have known each other since we were young  
I knew you were one of a kind exceptional of the Trolls among  
You built a wall around your heart so high, wide and tall,  
I made a vow to break down that wall no matter the long haul.  
Throughout the years, you were always on my mind  
our hearts, lives and destiny intertwined.  
Each invitation and me seeking you out was my heart crying out to you  
to let me into your fortress, your heart and life through and through.  
On my hands and knees I thank Destiny for leading us on the journey  
where feelings grew stronger, deeper and true between you and me.  
Beneath that wall of hurt, sadness and loneliness beat a heart of sweetness, love & sensitivity  
whose words of poetic words of romance and love put my heart, soul and life in captivity.  
Our love story started with puppy love and turned into love oh so true  
be prepared that the sweetest, caring, sensitive, caring, handsomest troll will be wooed. 

"Is that a royal decree from my Queen? Or a pinky promise from the sweet, kind-hearted, compassionate, understanding, loved by all who meet her, bubbly and angelic Troll that I am head over heels in love with? Either way it's a definite "yes" to the posed statement as long as my lady agrees that she will also be the wooer by yours truly.  
Now that we are both caught up on our true feelings for each other I propose that the next course of action will be more brain blanking kissing, I do hope my love agrees with that plan." Branch said coyly as he rose from the rock to saunter over to Poppy; still in shock that not only did Poppy love him back and wanted to be with him romantically but this was all happening in the real world and not in his imagination or dreams. 

Poppy just gave Branch an exaggerated "do you really have to ask that silly question?" look before her face returned to its loving and utter adoration of the man before her as she softly placed her lips onto his while doing an inner happy dance that she was finally with the troll of her dreams and extremely probable her future king, husband and father to their trollings (whoa Poppy don't get too ahead of yourself, you and Branch just started to court and you don't want to scare him away with talks of your future together so you should keep those kinds of thoughts in your head or scrapbooks for now).

She was pleased to see that it hardly took Branch anytime at all to once again wrap his strong, loving, protective and warm arms around her in order to pull her in so close that air wasn't even "allowed" to disturb their kiss though that didn't stop her knees from threatening to buckle or her heart from galloping straight out of her chest. Both Poppy and Branch agreed this was the best ever Harvest Moon they had ever had; they both got the gift they had always wanted; true love.


	2. Puppy Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Peppy holds a banquet where every Troll in the Troll Tree is invited and that includes Branch and his grandma Rosiepuff. Poppy (1 year old) and Branch (3) hit it off immediately with a bad case of puppy love.   
> Please review, give kudos or favorite it. I hope you guys and girls enjoy it.

I want to thank all the people who read, reviewed, favorited, followed and gave my story kudos. I wish I could thank each and every one of you; so here's an air-hug for all of you along with a big thank you. Hopefully those same people and more will read, review and give kudos to this story too. (fingers crossed and I have high hopes)

Story Summary: King Peppy holds a banquet where every Troll in the Troll Tree is invited and that includes Branch and his grandma Rosiepuff. Poppy (1 year old) and Branch (3) hit it off immediately with a bad case of puppy love. 

I don't own anybody but the plot so pretty please don't sue me. Please enjoy and don't forget to review. 

Branch didn't understand why he had to have a bath (even if it was a lemongrass scented bubble bath and he could play with his homemade tugboat to his little hearts' delight as Grandma washed every inch of his little turquoise body from tip of his hair to all 8 little piggies with citrus soap) in the middle of the day. Grandma had told him all of Troll Village was going to a celebration to celebrate the beginning of spring so everyone needed to look their best but Branch didn't want to go to a party if it meant he need to bathe in the middle of the day and wear his best clothes instead of playing in the woods with his imaginary friends or helping grandma around the pod, that doesn't sound like fun to him. 

"Grandma, my hair is perfect, please stop brushing it, I have been sitting here like a statue for an hour (it wasn't more then a minute and a half but it seemed longer to a 3 year old). I'm bored! Ok my hair is shiny can I go now? I wanna go play with my boat in the lake but if I don't get there soon the other trollings will be there and I won't have enough lake to sail to Branch Island. Why can't I wear my vest and shorts? Why do I gotta get dressed up?" Branch tried his hardest not to whine, Grandma didn't like it when he whined cause he is a big boy and big boys use their words but the whine just slipped out without his permission. 

By the time Branch and Grandma Rosiepuff got to the celebration it seemed like every Troll in the village was already there, chitchatting with their neighbors while balancing their chuck full of delicious foods plates. Branch wasn't used to seeing all these Trolls, sure Grandma and him had gone to Trolls celebrations-impromptu dance sessions, festivals or dance parties, before, but he was feeling very overwhelmed and a little claustrophobic being surrounded by all those Trolls so he was about to plead to his grandma to take him home when she guided them to the buffet table with its massive amount of food. 

"Branch come tell Grandma what you would like to eat? Remember you need to eat some vegetables so here's the deal: you pick one vegetable and I'll pick one and before you say anything pasta and ambrosia salad don't count as veggies. You may have fruit salad for desert but not for dinner. Oh look Branch they have yummy kale salad with fresh strawberries and blueberries on top; two of your favorite fruits. Good choice choosing broccoli and my choice is a spoonful of caesar salad." Rosiepuff chatted as she filled her grandson's plate with food since he could barely see over the table let alone reach the food himself. 

Branch wasn't looking where he was going as he walked a few paces behind his grandma to the tree where they would sit to eat; he was too focused on the yummy food on his plate that he couldn't wait to put in his tummy when his body collided with another small soft body that caused him to fall backwards to land on the ground with his plate landing on his tummy and him staring up at the sky above. When he looked up he saw baby Poppy happily clinging to his legs babbling away in her infant talk as she used her chubby little fingers to eat his berries and mashed potatoes right off his plate. 

"Hey! No Poppy! That's my food!" Branch grumbled at the sight of his delicious food going into another trolling's tummy and not his before Poppy decided that since the food she was happily enjoying was too delicious not to share with her new "friend" she interrupted his grumbling by practically shoving food into Branch's mouth with a "mmmmm" sound. Good thing what Poppy was feeding him was the soft, no chewing required potatoes which just slipped down his throat or Branch might have choked on the food being forced down his throat by the enthusiastic baby princess.

"Poppy, that's not nice. We don't shove food in people's mouths. We also don't eat other people's food. Poor Branch. That's Branch's food, come with daddy and we will get Poppy's food that Poppy can eat like the big trolling she is. Come on my little blossom." King Peppy tried to pick up his little one who squirmed, kicked her feet, fussed, fretted and cried as she tried to hold onto Branch's shirt with all her little might and strength. 

(Why couldn't Branch and her share their food? Daddy and Ms Honey was always telling her to share with the other trollings in daycare? So why is Daddy telling her she shouldn't be sharing her food? Adults are so confusing when they saw one thing and then change their minds. Why was Daddy pulling her away from her friend? Poppy didn't want to leave Branch. She wanted to stay and eat food with him.) Unfortunately her strength failed her as her daddy easily picked her up and carried his still wiggling, squirming and trying her hardest to get back to Branch daughter as she loudly cried in her dad's ear to the buffet table; though holding onto the uncooperative and heavily crying child made it quite difficult for King Peppy to hold onto the plate of food as well as his squirmy daughter. 

Meanwhile Branch had settled down to finish his meal under the shady oak tree as Rosiepuff chatted with her friends nearby and was letting his mind wander over the fun day his grandma and him had planned for the next day. He was literally happy dancing on the spot in anticipation as he had been looking forward to it for what seemed like a lifetime and it was finally almost here ( Rosiepuff told Branch about "Grandma & Branch" day 4 days ago). Suddenly he felt a light sensation on his arm that felt like soft hair brushing up against his arm and when he looked over he saw Poppy with her own plate of food happily eating away while resting her head on his arm and trying her hardest to wrap her tiny fingers around Branch's hand.

Soon a sort of tug of war happened; Branch trying to take back his fingers as gently as he could (he didn't want to hold Poppy's hand but he also didn't want to be rude or too rough on a younger trolling- Grandma would be mad at him if he dipped into another trollings' bucket or hurt their feelings which is a no-no for young trollings according to Ms Honey and grandma). Poppy was having nothing to do with his actions or wishes- she fought tooth and nail against releasing Branch's hand and kept re-grabbing and holding it as tightly as she could each time her hand was released so Branch just gave up trying to take back his hand and just went with how things were going. 

(To be honest it actually felt quite nice and kind of made him feel kind of tingling all over his little body to hold Poppy's hand and have her strawberry scented, soft as a cloud hair caressing his arm-it felt like small bursts of fireworks were erupting inside his tummy, he was surrounded by the scent of one of his favorite berries and it gave him the same feelings he got when he was wrapped up in his grandma's arms, her kissing him or when Branch was snuggled down in the the comfy spot in his "big boy bed". So Branch decided to let Poppy keep holding his hand and using him as a pillow; he wanted to see if the nice feelings continued to happen or if they were an one time thing.) 

Since both Branch and Poppy, more Branch then Poppy, didn't have the cause and effect mentality yet, they soon learned that eating with one hand was difficult so Branch decided, being the big boy that Grandma always says he is, he would help his new friend eat her meal so he hand fed Poppy while she sat in his lap facing him and returning the favor. At times Poppy's little sharp teeth hurt his fingers as she took the food from him and sometimes when she fed him she missed his mouth and accidentally poked at Branch's eyes or got food on his clothes. "Ouchie Poppy! No bite. No poking. My eyes have an owie. My finger has an owie too." Branch complained after what felt like the third time it happened while holding his fingers tightly to his chest and his little eyes were starting to water up as they darted around the village for his grandma so she could kiss his owies better. 

Poppy started to whimper, cry and fuss, she had no idea why her new friend was crying but seeing Branch crying was hurting her heart so she wanted him to stop crying so to help him feel better so she started to plant kisses all over starting with his "hurt" fingers, closed eyelids and then all over his little face as she kept repeating: "no cry" over and over again. She was trying to tell him he shouldn't cry as her kisses will magically make the "ouchies" go away before she settled her little self back in his lap to continue eat her meal content that her kisses did the job of "curing" ouchies. 

When Branch and Poppy were done eating, the adults were still eating their meals. "Adults are such slow pokes; they insist on talking about boring adult things instead of eating their food so that they can play with their trollings faster. Grandma is always telling me not to talk when my mouth's full of food cause she says it's rude and that I can tell her all about my day in trollcare after we're done eating and giving our plates, forks, knives and cups a bath. She's breaking her own rule; I am so going to tell her that when we get home tonight; Grandma's in trouble." Branch gleefully said as he and Poppy watched the adults around them still eating in between snippets of conversations.

So it was decided unanimously that it was play game time which meant a rousing game of "Tag" though since Poppy was still a little unsteady walking and didn't know how to run yet the game was more Branch walking at a snail's pace as Poppy giggled, squealed and babbled toddling after him as he screamed in fake terror at "being caught" by Poppy or when Branch was "it" he growled like a Greygon with his "claws" and his "angry" face as he stomped after a giggling and squealing with utter delight Poppy. 

Poppy surprised Branch by running behind a tree and then when he bend over pretending not to see her peeking out she climbed onto his back horsey-style and gently kicked her little feet against his side with a "go now" which of course he did right away happily complete with horse noises as he "galloped" around the tree with Poppy laughing her little head off and screaming with delight. When her little hands would let go of Branch's shirt to clap her hands in delight he would stop and gently remind her that she needed to hang on to "horsey" cause he didn't want anything to happen to his little rider as he gently placed her tiny short arms around his neck once again before the ride continued. 

Branch and Poppy tried to play "Hide & Seek" next but Poppy's little brain couldn't handle the rules of the game (her hiding places were too obvious like just plucking herself on the ground and covering her eyes or standing in front of a tree with a big 3 tooth smile) so she just followed Branch around like a baby duck as he counted to five then when he turned around to "find" her Poppy would be standing behind him smiling sweetly before wrapping herself around his legs in a bear hug so that game wasn't any fun. Luckily by that time the adults were done eating so there were dishes to be washed, dried and stacked which everyone from trollings to adults helped out in the assembly line.

Then because every Trolls, from trollings to the honorable and highly valuable elders, love to sing, dance and of course hug after dish duty it was karaoke time; the adults broke off in their own group already singing and dancing to "We are Family" leaving the trollings to start their own cover of "Walking on Sunshine" as the younger trollings such as Poppy clapped and tried their hardest to join in but hadn't found their singing voice yet so they sounded more like squawking birds then singing. Branch sang and danced his little heart out, more then he did around his friends or his grandma, with his eyes glued to Poppy in the front row with her big ear to ear shinning brighter then the sun smile the entire time and making his performance dedicated to only her and making her utter enjoyment and happiness the only thing that mattered to him as the world around them disappeared. 

Unfortunately as the sun started to go down so did the energy level of the trollings until not one of them had the energy to sing one more note or do one more dance move so their parents collected their little darlings and took them home to their pods for bedtime. Branch wasn't ready to leave his new friend's side even if his little eyelids were constantly threatening to shut closed, he couldn't stop the yawns from escaping and he could hear his comfy bed calling for him, so he gathered up all his nerve, went right up to King Peppy and asked: "Excuse me Mr King sir but may I please go with you and help you put Poppy, I mean Princess Poppy, to bed? Please sir, I'll only stay at your pod until Poppy is tucked into bed, I hair swear." in the biggest big boy voice as he could and might have paired his inquiry with a smidge touch of pleading eyes for the full effect of how serious he was being.

Peppy had seen the instant, innocent and incredibly sweet connection his little daughter had with Branch and oohed and awwed over all the sweet moments his daughter and her new bestie had had all day long and the little trollings' innocent, polite and sweet plea melted his heart so of course he responded with: "Of course you can Branch; Poppy and I would be delighted if you would help me put her to bed. " Grandma Rosiepuff came along with Branch as the foursome walked to the Royal Pod into Poppy's baby pink room to put the fighting to not fall asleep Poppy into her crib, Peppy lovingly caressed his daughter's back while crooning how much he loves his " precious jewel" and wishes her sweet dreams then Rosiepuff and Peppy left Branch sitting by the crib gently stroking Poppy's tiny hand through the bars and just softly humming.

This didn't seem to satisfy the 1 year old who started to fuss and whimper as she held out her arms to Branch and her little lips trembled in sadness so the little trolling climbed into her crib, cuddled up to her and continued to softly sing "Lavender's Blue" in her tiny ear as Poppy slowly traveled to Dreamland along with her new friend so Poppy and Branch spent the night sleeping all cuddled up together in Poppy's crib (Peppy and Rosiepuff would have separated the trollings since the crib was only suppose to be an one trolling bed but Poppy and Branch were just too gosh darn adorable and sweet together that neither adult could bear to separate them so Branch was left at the Royal Pod for the night to be collected the next morning) 

Both adults hoped that this budding friendship would last the trials of time and age and possibly, fingers crossed, lead into true love that lasts till the end of time but then Grandma Rosiepuff was taken by Chef , Troll Tree was invaded so all Trolls had to abandon their homes for a safer haven, Branch lost his color because of the immeasurable trauma and heartbreak at losing one of the most important troll in his life and went into seclusion and Poppy was just too young to remember the trolling who had spent an entire day and night practically sweeping her off her tiny feet so unfortunately the sweet memory of Branch and Poppy's day of puppy love was forgotten by all.


	3. Hiccups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppy has a little but very annoying problem. Will Branch will able to find the "cure"?

Dedicated to Sandrastar1 who came up with the general ideas in the story. Hopefully I do her story idea justice and she likes how I wrote the story.  
I want to say thank you to Sandrastar1, MiraculousDragonMaster, Wonszu, Karlamarie, Guests, Sandra, WriterlyLady, Undertaleuniverse, Anewstartforme and anyone else who I missed who favorited, reviewed, gave kudos or followed my one-shot collection. I appreciate all your words of encouragement, support and love. 

Once again I don't own anybody unless I made up a character from my own imagination. So please don't sue.

By the way I didn't take "Clebby" idea when it comes to this story idea so hopefully no one accuses me of taking their idea cause that wasn't my plan or idea to do so.

Summary: Poppy has a little but very annoying problem on her hands so it's up to Branch and her's creativity and crazy antics to solve it.

"Branch!" hiccup "Branch!" hiccup "Branch!" hiccup "Branch!" hiccup Poppy yelled/hiccupped as she banged her little fists on the "Go Away!" mat; she really needed her best friend and not so secret crush right now to help her get rid of these pesky hiccups. They had been bugging her since breakfast, Poppy had been a bundle of nerves and anxiety all night and she had barely slept a wink.

Her eyes wouldn't close or when they did they would pop open minutes later as she tossed and turned in her bed as her mind raced with everything but sleeping till Poppy had to get out of bed and just scrapbook her feelings and thoughts which didn't all really help much but it did allow her mind and body to relax enough that she fell right to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow at 6 am. 

Why is Poppy so anxious and all nerves you might ask? Well the day before Chenille, Satin, Smidge and Suki had cornered Poppy in her pod: "Girl, before we say anything else we want you to know that we all love you and only want you to be extremely happy but girl you and Branch have been dancing around your true feelings for each other for months now; ever since you two saved all of Troll Village from that horrid Chef. 

And don't get us started on how it is obvious to every Troll in the village that Branch and you are head over feet in love; I mean he practically sang his feelings in front of everyone when we all lost our colors for trolls sake and both of you go all gooey goo goo eyed and gush like crazy whenever your sweetie's name is mentioned , when you two are "hanging out" or when you guys on one of your crazy adventures. 

Don't you dare deny it cause we have all the proof we need in a Broppy (that is yours and Branch's couple name) scrapbook, what else did you think we did during scrapbooking club when you conveniently missed it because you were hanging out with your favorite troll?. So please girl put yourself and Branch out of your misery of "Does she/he feel the same way?" "Should I risk our friendship on a chance he/she could feel the same way?" and just tell him how you feel. Pretty please with a ton of frosting on top before we have to do something drastic"

It wasn't as if Poppy didn't want to tell Branch how she truly felt; she did with all her might but she also knew that Branch might not feel the same way about her or is emotionally fragile and scared to open his heart to true love and being vulnerable after being a loner for over 10 years with only his remote control Gary as "company" so she didn't want to scare him. She knew exactly what would happen if Branch was too scared to open himself up to love or was pushed into something he wasn't 100% ready for aka he would lock himself in his bunker for the rest of his life and their friendship will become ( he really was one of her best friends) too awkward, strained or frayed so Branch and Poppy won't be in harmony or connected anymore and their friendship will be ruined forever.

Hmm being pessimistic isn't very fun; I guess Branch should be the only pessimist in the village cause he makes it adorable and endearing even when he drives me crazy with his worries of everything and anything that could go wrong in any and all circumstances and him trying to prevent any Troll in the village from getting hurt daily with his sometimes overbearing "safety" rules; don't mind me I am madly in love with said safety nerd.

So when the alarmbug rudely woke Poppy up at her usual time of 8 am she truly felt like she had just fallen asleep and her body groaned and grumbled as she untwisted her achy body after it had been twisted into the fetal position all night and she wished the alarmbug had a snooze element to it. As she went about her daily morning routine mechanically the realization that this is might be the day that she told Branch her true feelings came back to her as Poppy was putting her flowery dress on, putting her hair in its famous topknot and her magenta eyes caught on her "best friends" board where smack in the middle was a collage of pictures depicting Poppy and Branch during their many adventures/ hanging out so Poppy scrambled for her scrapbook and materials in order to stressbook all these not nice feelings away. 

"Where's my scrapbook? I need to scrapbook; ok breathe Poppy let the scrapbook absorb your stress, nerves and anxiety. "Everything is going to be fine; you will tell Branch how much you love him unconditionally, he will say he loves me too and we will have our true love's first kiss and live happily ever after. But what if I tell Branch that I love him and he doesn't feel the same way? Sure he will try his hardest not to deliver this heartbreaking, earth shattering news too harshly and reassure me over and over again that we can still be best friends who hang out almost 24/7 but that doesn't mean that my heart won't break into a million pieces, my soul will be crushed and I will probably lose my color.

OMG what kind of queen gets so depressed that not only does she lose her color but barricades herself in her pod for the rest of her life? That's not what a queen is suppose to; that isn't what's best for her people who look to her for guidance, support, encouragement and positivity; so I will be literally be the worst queen ever in the history of Troll village and my ancestors will be so disappointed in me. That does it: I am so not telling Branch my true feelings; even if it could lead to my very own fairy tale-happily-ever-after- ending with the only troll I can ever see myself with cause the flip side is too horrible to think about. But I want to be with Branch as his sweetheart super duper badly like I need air to breathe, cupcakes, frosting and berries to eat, the ability to sing and dance 24/7 and having my family and close friends in my life so I don't want to lose my chance at true love because of my fear; argh I am so confused on what to do!"

"Poppy, sweetheart. What's the matter? Take deep breaths, breathe in, hold it, breathe out. Keep doing that while I get you a glass of water. Easy there honey; just take little sips of water. That's my girl. Ok so now that you're calmer; tell dad why you are so freaked out while you eat your breakfast." King Peppy had walked into his daughter's room carrying a tray filled with a plate of yummy blackberry pancakes and a glass of freshly squeezed stoutberry juice hoping to catch his daughter before she started her day as Queen.  
He missed his little girl as she was always busy either in her queenly duties or off on one of her many adventures with her best friends so any minute he got to spend with his little princess was treasured and welcomed so he was extremely worried when he found his daughter in a tizzy with her scrapbook supplies exploded all around her as she stressed scrapbooked and muttered to herself.

Poppy didn't answer as she scarfed down the delicious food, she was too nervous and fretting about seeing Branch and how to act around him so that she didn't look or seem like she was trying too hard to be her upbeat, positive and energetic self who wasn't hiding a huge secret which she totally was so she didn't even taste the food or the juice as she guzzled it down before kissing her dad and rushing out of the Pod.

Poppy was already rehearsing in her head what she is going to say and act to "prove" to her friends and Branch nothing had changed from the day before and she didn't spend all night sleepless and out of her mind with anxiety when suddenly a loud and disruptive hiccup interrupted her train of thoughts. She tried the hold her breath trick but the annoying hiccups would just pop out through her clenched lips making her have to take another deep breath and try again with no success. 

Poppy was brought suddenly back to the present when the trapdoor opened and Poppy was pulled in by her hands into the bunker by Branch who was talking a mile a minute: "Poppy! What's the matter? Are there growlbeasts in the area? Did a troll get hurt singing or dancing or acting reckless while trying to have some fun? Is there another rainbow tornado? Is Cloud Guy up to his sneaky and super annoying tricks again?" as he tried to get a straight answer from Poppy. Her lack of answer was getting his mind swimming with all the negative thoughts of what could have happened to make his Queen come banging on his door in such a tizzy that it took him a moment to register the fact that Poppy had hiccups.

"Oh I see, you have hiccups. Have you tried to hold your breath? Poppy nodded. "Hm ok so when I was a trolling Grandma gave me a spoonful of honey ( my nana's trick for hiccups) so lucky for you I went to the bumblecritters' hive yesterday so I have plenty of liquid golden sweetness. Very fitting a spoonful of honey for my honey; some sweetness for my sweetheart. Really Branch? That isn't even that clever thinking; that's what I am pretty sure grandma said to me growing up. Good thing those cheesy words are only in my head and not out loud or Poppy would either be running away scared out of her mind ,laughing her troll head off as she rolls around on the carpet (hmm scaring someone with hiccups is suppose to be a good thing; thought for later) or backing away from me with some made up excuse of why she has to leave right at this moment.

Even though the spoonful of honey was thick, gooey and sweet yumminess the hiccups didn't leave so Branch consulted the big book of health scrapbook for other cures of hiccups while Poppy tried the breathing into a paper bag trick which only made her feel dizzy and a little lightheaded. So Poppy stumbled and swayed down the hall looking for the bathroom where she got a tall cool glass of water from the tap that she gulped down in between hiccups and since Branch was still reading the health book in the living room so she decided to be a nosy troll and maybe snoop around her trolls' bunker a little bit. 

Poppy didn't really get a chance to explore Branch's bunker alone cause she and Branch were always together (not that she was complaining of course) and he wouldn't give her permission to nose through his home but she was hoping to get a deeper glimpse into the love of her life's life by snooping through his things so it's snooping time though she would try to not disturb anything so that Branch wouldn't have any evidence of her snooping. 

Of course Poppy started in the bedroom; Branch's inner sanctuary where he goes to relax, unwind and sleep after a hard, tiring, stressful but highly eventful day of either being a lovable but maybe a smidge (sorry Smidge) annoying worry wort trying to protect every troll in the village or was an add on to one of her spur of the moment adventures. She crossed her fingers that she would find pictures of Grandma Rosiepuff, maybe even baby Branch among the pictures of their friends and hopefully some pictures of herself and Branch where their love shone out from the frame, according to their friends. 

"Aw cupcakes there's no pictures or other personalized items here; my poor Branch, I guess he didn't want to be reminded how lonely and "unloved" he felt after his grandma died or for some silly billy reason thinks our friends are only friends to him because I told them to be which I would never ever do to him cause that would just be beyond mean. Memo to myself next time I come here I will try to "leave" some pictures of our friends and of course of myself so that Branch has proof he has trolls who care/love him in case he ever forgets that obvious fact. 

Ohh what's this? Hmm a "Nothing Important" note in front of an obvious picture frame; maybe he does have a personalized picture afterall but is too adorably shy to share it with the world so he keeps it hidden but even with that sweet thought I am still not deterred cause that note just ups my curiosity and plus I want to see the adorably sweet picture that Branch wants to keep hidden from every eyes except his own so I am going for it".

Poppy quickly sent up a prayer to her mom in heaven that Branch was still in the living room or somewhere else that wasn't the bedroom so that he wouldn't catch her totally betraying his personal space and privacy cause she couldn't contain her overflowing curiosity before reaching out to pull up the sticky note and get a glance at the picture underneath. Her fingers didn't even get the chance to touch the sticky note before Branch was suddenly right in front of her blocking her from her hidden treasure; his ears and cheeks adorably red as he tried to put on his "stern" face as he admonished her:

"Poppy! What are you doing in my bedroom? Oh that; um there's nothing important behind that sign which is why the sign says "Nothing Important" cause like I said there's nothing important behind there. So let's just not look behind that sign and go back into the kitchen, the safe not hiding anything at all kitchen (not that I am hiding anything now cause I am totally not) because we need to trollstorm other ideas to get rid of your hiccups?"

Poppy made a promise to herself there and then that the first chance she got she would ask their friends to distract Branch while she sneaks in to surprise her beloved with his pictures and of course to finally set eyes on whatever wasn't "important" behind the sign cause it had to be extremely important to him if Branch wouldn't let her see it, stumbled over his words, wouldn't look her in the eyes and blushed adorably pink when she got close to his secret. I will find out your little secret Mr. Branch and when I do I will probably fall even more in love with you cause I am pretty sure it's beyond adorable and sweet. 

"Hmm this troll thinks that there is something important behind that sign that another certain troll doesn't want me to see cause you said "important" 3 times , are ushering me into the safe not hiding anything kitchen awfully quick and are blushing quite badly (Poppy thought Branch looked extra adorable when he blushed but that wasn't the point). So you might as well just show me what you obviously don't want me to see cause you and I both know that in the end I will figure out what you are hiding. 

So why not skip the usual steps of me teasingly but lovingly poking, prodding and needling you along with bouts of adorable but sad cuddlepuppy eyes and pouty lip until you get so fed up or can no longer say no to little ole me that in the end you show me what I want to see. So why don't you save yourself both the time, grumbles and energy now and just do show and tell?" Poppy half teased and half flirted as she sashayed over to a still blushing and avoiding her eyes Branch, raised his chin with her hand and cuddled up to him batting her long eyelashes at him.

"Ohh so some troll wants to be sassy, well then I guess that naughty sassy troll needs to be taught a lesson." Branch half teased and half flirted back as he slowly advanced on the so not scared but pretending to be in order to flirt/tease right back Poppy with his fingers already curled up in the "tickle" pose until he suddenly pounced and chased a happily screaming, laughing and still hiccupping Poppy all around his bunker weaving and dodging in between pieces of furniture and tickle fingers until Branch trapped Poppy against the elevator where he pounced on her and tickled her with both hair and fingers all over till she screamed and twisted in utter delight though how Branch knew all of Poppy's ticklish spots was beyond her. 

"Oh it's on buddy boy! Tickle tickle; how do you like them apples? Ohh Branch is ticklish!" Poppy retaliated by tickling Branch from his armpits, his sides, neck and bellybutton using both her hair and hands till both trolls couldn't breathe and their tummies hurt from laughing too much so a truce was made and the trolls collapsed on the rug gasping for air with a huge ear to ear smile on their faces. Unfortunately neither the tickle fight, the exercise of running around the bunker or the sudden shock of Branch surprising her sleuthing had stopped Poppy's hiccups because as soon as she caught her breath they came back with a vengeance.

"Ok so I did read some other cures but they might not be the nicest or tastiest but hey if they work then we should at least try it right? Ok so first is sucking on a lemon; watch out it's super sour ( Branch thought Poppy's sour face-puckered up lips and scrunched up eyes- was super adorable and he had a pretty strong inclination to kiss those puckered up soft as a cloud and so kissable lips but he held himself back by a very thin thread but he also knew that Poppy's puckered up lips and him kissing them would be the highlight of his dreams tonight). 

That didn't work; next is a glass of salty water, don't give me that look I hair swear that I am not making you drink my stored sweat but I will say that it might be best if you plug your nose while drinking it cause even I admit it's gross tasting and definitely the last resort when thirsty. Last one; a drop of vinegar on your tongue; just imagine that you are eating a yummy fresh salad with a vinegar dressing; thatta girl; see it doesn't taste that bad; oh frosting that didn't work." 

Branch wracked his brain for another idea to help cure his Queen's "ailment" and he could have sworn a lightbulb appeared over his head as an idea came to him; he hated having to do it but if it would help his sweet troll get rid of her hiccups he would bravely do it: "Poppy, when I was on my morning safety patrol of the village; by the way I have mountains upon mountains of new safety rules and regulations that I insist be not only read over thoroughly by you which will probably take you the rest of the day to read them all but that upon your approval, of course, be initiated immediately. I noted in my handy survival handbook, and Gary noticed them too, signs of a big, I am talking an extremely big, creature that seems to be covered in thick, coarse fur, have claws the size of our pods and sharp pointed teeth along with a deep, throaty, menacing and loud growls and roars in Misty Meadows. 

So in my personal and professional opinion as Troll Village's unofficial Safety Monitor I think you and I need to spend the rest of the day and into the night coming up with ideas on how to deal with this new threat to our village and how to initiate all my safety rules and regulations into the village by tomorrow. The other trolls will listen to you if you tell them that they are to follow the new rules to the tee in order to keep everyone safe and sound so you have to read each and every word of each and every page in order to get the full detail of my plan and you will have to agree that for once I am not overexaggerating the danger we face."

Poppy's eyes literally popped out of her head then rolled back into her head as her head swam with all the information that seemed to jump from all the stack of books Branch just put on the kitchen table and come full front at her vying for her consideration at the same time until she felt her heart started to beat faster and faster (hey it's only allowed to do that when Branch says, does or looks at me in his sweet, sensitive, caring and loving way before melting straight to my feet- not in absolute fear at all the information coming at me in all directions and having to spend a night reviewing it even if that super scary and stressful task is done with the troll of my absolute dreams which is a daily goal of mine) and her breathing became strained and pained at she stressed out about the workload ahead of her. 

Suddenly the total serious and grumpy look melted off Branch's face as he burst into hysterical laughter, he was laughing so hard that he was bent over at the waist and was holding his tummy. "Trolly Molly Poppy, don't look so utterly petrified; I was just trying to scare you to see if maybe it would chase away your hiccups, it didn't work but you look so scared. All this "safety" "research" is just my cookbooks and other hardcopy books; don't worry I won't make you read them all so don't look so stressed out or faint on me. Also there is no monster in Misty Meadows, I made that up too; quite convincingly I might add so I guess I am a better storyteller then you thought, and if you don't believe me ask Gary and he'll confirm it, won't you Garry?. "

Aww I am the luckiest troll in the entire world let alone Troll Village; not only do I have the sweetest, kindest, most romantic, poetic , adorable with a side of dork, safety nerd who only wants the best for his fellow trollkind troll in my life as my best friend but if my friends are right (fingers, toes and anything else that can be crossed is crossed) he is also head over heels in love with me; heart, mind and soul. So I am also the lucky troll whose best friend is clearly my soulmate, my king, the ying to my yang, my past, present and future and much more; yeah for me!

And now ,being the sweetie that is my man, Branch has spent a good part of the morning once again trying to help me solve my problem when I am pretty sure that he had a long list of chores and activities he wanted to do today; probably a ton of safety checks around the village where he calls out "That's not safe!" as he gathers up his supplies and rations for "doomsday". So he had a busy day ahead of him that because of me Branch will have to postpone until tomorrow which will really wreak havoc on his schedule and put him behind on his "duties" as the unofficial Safety Monitor but once again he put all his personal wants and needs aside to make me the #1 priority; like he has done since our rescue trip to Bergentown and does day after day without any protest, adorable grumbling or saying "handle it yourself; I'm too busy!"

I wish there was a way to thank Branch for all he does not just for me but for the entire village (though my "thank you" should be extra special and unique to us then the "thank you" of our friends cause Branch is the only troll I do and will ever love and I want him to know, really understand and comprehend how much I love him so that he has no doubts about how I feel about him). Though I know how shy Branch is and how much he really does dislike any attention or thanks of any kind paid to him so my "thank you" has to be subtle but not too subtle or he'll miss the entire point of what I am trying to tell him plus it has to be extremely sweet and definitely from the heart; I know no pressure right?

As Branch continued to adorably ramble on and apologize profusely about his plan of scaring the hiccups right out of Poppy going way too well cause it actually scared his women out of her wits, Poppy seemed to make a final decision on the best way to "thank" Branch for his many kind, generous, sweet and thoughtful gestures and words towards herself and their friends so with a firm nod she took Branch's face in her hands and kissed the air right out of him as she poured all her love into that one gesture. Of course it didn't take Branch too longer to respond to the fact that the troll of his dreams was actually kissing him, he wasn't dreaming Poppy was actually kissing him, so in under a minute Poppy was crushed against his chest and his hands were on her body; one hand was tangled in her hair to hold her head against his so that he could return the favor of kissing the air right out of her body (not that she minded of course) and the other was wrapped around her waist to steady themselves on the earth so both trolls don't fly up and away to the rainbow high up in the sky with how much their hearts were flying with utter exhilaration. 

Unfortunately these heaven filled moment had to eventually end for something as trivial as breathing with their lungs screaming for oxygen and the fact that if they had continued to kiss their hearts would literally beat right out of their chests with the rapid beating of the organ. Good thing Poppy didn't move too far away from her Branch so she could feel the mint from his toothpaste on her face as well as see the confused, dazed and yet lovesick look splashed all over Branch's face as both their hearts beats returned to normal.

"Uh so you just kissed me. On the lips. Unprovoked. Not that I minded of course cause I kissed you back so obviously I didn't mind you kissing me but you just kissed me.." Branch stuttered as his eyes bugged out, heart raced and he was gulping in heaps of air as his mind whirled with thoughts of: Oh my troll Poppy, the Queen of Troll Village, the troll I have been in love with since we were kids, the sweetest, happiest, perkiest, spunkiest, most stubborn, loveable, adorkable troll who everyone in the village loves her and who probably has tons of suitors who have much more to offer Poppy as her husband, partner in life and King of Troll Village then I, just kissed me on the lips. And boy was it a kiss; it literally took my breath away and I was afraid that Poppy would see my heart leap out of my chest. I felt the earth move under us, time stopped and I felt fireworks exploding inside my body as bells rang out. Please let Poppy not only feel the same way that I do but also give me some more of those passionate kisses)

"Why yes I did. And I enjoyed it so much that I think I will do it again and again and again for as long as the troll I love will allow me to; how does the rest of our lives sound? By the way good job sweetie; you got rid of my hiccups, I think we need to celebrate that fact...." Peppy flirted as one hand played with his leafy vest while the other rested on his chest before grabbing his vest to once again lay a sweet, tender but just as passionate as the first one kiss which of course Branch wholeheartedly reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her waist and put his whole self into the kiss. Hmm kissing hiccups away; why didn't I think of that first? It would have saved us both time, energy and stress plus um kissing the troll I love, um yes please.


	4. Sleepwalker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppy develops an embarrassing habit at night but could it lead to one of the best nights of her life?

This story was a story request from Sandrastar1 so hopefully she enjoys it.  
Once again I don't own anybody but the characters I made up myself and of course the story so please don't sue.

Poppy practically fell into her comfy, cozy and warm bed with a deep from the pits of her soul sigh as she stretched all four limbs towards her headboard and footboard to work out all the kinks and knots that had gathered up over the past 4 days that had been filled with stress and anxiety as Poppy was pulled in all different directions by trolls who needed their Queen's help or guidance at the exact time as well as the daily schedules of being Queen. 

Because of her busy week, she had barely any time to spend with Branch aka the troll she loves with all her heart and one of her best friends. According to Poppy that was a big "no-no" cause even one day without spending even a minute without Branch was a really sad, grey, no sunshine, no music, no glitter kind of day that Poppy wanted over and done with as soon as possible so the next day could start where she would be off Queen duty and be able to spend the whole day; from sunrise to sunset with her Branch.

Since becoming good friends with the Bergens, Branch became the "Official Bergen-Trolls Friendship Mediator" so that meant along with his normal duties as "Unofficial Safety Monitor" he was responsible for deepening and strengthening the friendship between the Trolls and Bergens and opening the channel of communication between the two groups.  
So he was even busier then ever before but Poppy knew that he liked feeling he had a purpose in life; a job that made life in Troll Village a least a little bit happier and sunnier , one that only he was "qualified" to do and no one could grumble or complain about him going too far or being too overprotective that "ruins" their fun. Though Poppy also knew that there was a part of him that wished he wasn't so swamped with so many duties and responsibilities so he could have more "Branch time" and hopefully (fingers crossed) more "Poppy & Branch" time. 

Poppy knew she should get off her bed to jump into a nice hot bubbly bath to soak away all the built up stress but she had absolutely no strength or energy to do that; she barely had the energy to eat dinner let alone to put on her pjs and brush her teeth so just for one night she gave herself permission to forgo routine so she climbed into her bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was in dreamland. 

Poppy's Dream: The Trolls along with their new Bergen friends were celebrating their victory over the extremely evil and cuckoo Chief and the backstabber, arrogant, self absorbed. thought was a friend not-to-be-named-troll as well as the newly formed relationship between the two groups of former eaters and eatees with an extravagant party with food- no eating trolls kind of food obviously-, loud music, flashing and strobe lights, brightly colored fireworks and of course tons of different conversations merged into one hum of voices as new friends learned about each other.

The only two trolls not at the festivities were the newly crowned Queen and her potential suitor who were sauntering through Misty Meadows. During their moonlight walk Branch and Poppy snuck glances at the other one only to look away with red faces when they saw that the troll they were watching under their eyelashes was looking straight back at them as well as both of them trying to gather up all their nerve to hold their true love's hand. 

It was Branch who took that huge step and took Poppy's hand after taking a huge deep breath and steeling all his nerves but his gesture was met with Poppy blushing like mad as she squeezed his hand while shooting major lovesick looks at him. Both lovesick trolls stuttered and blushed through conversations about how happy they are that themselves, their family and friends will no longer be in fear of being digested in the Bergens' tummies, how ecstatic they are about having new friends and of course in a roundabout way essentially confessing their true feelings for each other in that pot while awaiting their fate before Trollisce. 

They had just stopped on a grassy hill to admire the beautiful sunset with all its beautiful colors still hand in hand and Poppy practically sitting on Branch's lap when suddenly from behind Poppy and Branch came familiar voices: " There you see her  
Sitting there across the way  
She don't got a lot to say  
But there's something about her  
And you don't know why  
But you're dying to try  
You wanna kiss the girl  
Yes, you want her  
Look at her, you know you do  
It's possible she wants you, too  
There is one way to ask her  
It don't take a word  
Not a single word  
Go on and kiss the girl" ("Kiss the Girl" from Disney's The Little Mermaid by Ron Ashman)

On one hand Poppy was totally and completely embarrassed that her friends were not only interrupting hers and Branch's romantic moment, a moment that should be between them and only them, but also were singing a song about Branch kissing her when they hadn't had the conversation about whether or not they should be kissing or not or even if they have romantic love for each other. What if Branch was going to kiss her; he was just gathering up his nerve to do just that but now that their friends had embarrassed us he was second guessing his decision to kiss her right at this moment which meant no first kiss for Poppy (boooo). 

On the other hand her heart was hoping, praying and begging for Branch to just kiss her already, I mean yes they hadn't had the love conversation yet but she had been sending out major "I love you" signs at him and he had sang a love song to her so obviously they both felt the same way about each other without saying it out loud so logically the next step is kissing so troll up Branch and kiss Poppy already.

Which of course happened with a half grin and a flirty: "Well fore be it for me not to do what a song says since it's giving me such amazing advice" before Branch pulled Poppy in for a firework inducing, heart overflowing with love that it seemed to burst out of every pore of their bodies, time and earth stopping and beyond anything that any fairytale could ever describe kiss as both of them wrapped their arms around each other until there was not even enough room between Poppy and Branch for air to even come between them.  
Each liberally poured all the love they had in their entire 6 inch bodies into that one kiss which went on as long as trolly possible until unfortunately air was needed so Poppy and Branch both reluctantly pulled away, though not too far away from the sweetie , as they breathed heavily into each other's faces but with mile wide smiles on their lovesick faces and then once they could breathe normally again the kissing continued amidst the whooping, hollering and utter happy cheers of the Snack Pack.

Poppy was rudely awakened from her sublime and realistic dream by a high pitched "Poppy let go!. Mama! She's squishing me!" which she quickly found out was from a cuddly fluffy forest creature that she was inadvertently squeezing the air out of by the intense "hugging" and "snuggling" depicted in her vivid dream. She immediately apologized profusely as her whole face turned a bright red of utter embarrassment and she instantly let go of the poor little creature who hopped right back to her concerned family who were nearby.

"Are you alright Queen Poppy? You were singing and dancing all over the forest while you were sleeping; we didn't want to wake you up from your obviously wonderful dream but you were squishing poor Blossom so we are really sorry but we needed to wake you. We should all go back to bed and forget this ever happened; don't look so embarrassed sweetie as there are lots of trolls who do silly and embarrassing things when they sleepwalk.

I hope you can continue your lovely dream once you are back nice and snug in your bed. Goodnight Queen Poppy; say goodnight to Queen Poppy children." Mama Forest Creature said in a soothing, gentle motherly tone as she gently stroked Poppy's hands in comfort as the young queen was kneeling in shame at hurting another creature even if she didn't know what she was doing at the time. Poppy didn't respond just nodded, mutely stood up and walked back to her pod. She crawled into bed and laid there praying for sleep and the most wonderful dream ever to come to her quickly and easily; it didn't happened until later when she just couldn't keep her eyelids open anymore. 

The next day Poppy tried to keep her mind and body extremely busy, energized and stimulated with both her Queenly duties as well as spending as much time as she could with her friends and Branch; she felt she had barely shut her eyes when her alarm rang out waking her up as she had been so worried that her dreams would result in her sleepwalking again which could lead to more embarrassment for her so she had laid in bed praying that her dreams would be "staying in bed" kind of dreams. Once at home she dropped like a stone into bed (in pjs and teeth brushed this time) and fell fast asleep right away. 

Again that night Poppy got out of bed and out of her pod to sing at the top of her lungs "Baby Baby (Amy Grant)" with the trees, flowers and the cute and friendly forest animals as her captivated, adoring, hanging on her every word audience as she wandered through the meadow towards Branch's bunker. Unfortunately Poppy's love ballad was interrupted abruptly when as she spun around in a circle on she went face first into the nearest tree which of course instantly woke her up. So she sat on the floor holding her throbbing nose hissing through the pain of her mishap before walking home to ice her bruised nose as well as scrapbook her thoughts, feelings and frustration to soothe her bruised ego before crawling into bed for another sleepless night . 

To stop herself from being able to leave her pod during her what seems like a nightly sleepwalking session which seems to result in her getting super embarrassed or injured, Poppy decided to make lots of little boobytraps around her pod with bells and horns tied onto ropes at the entrance of doors to trip her up and placed furniture for her to bump into to wake her up before she gets too far into her sleepwalking journey.

Too bad mentally Poppy "remembered" her boobytraps so she just plowed through them, even the loud bells and horns didn't wake her up, wandered silently through the forest by the light of the crescent moon till she got to Branch's bunker where she unlocked the secret door, climbed into bed with a still sleeping Branch to snuggle up to him. Adorable snorts and sniffles could be heard as Branch woke up wrapped up in familiar, warm, loving pink arms with the scent of peppermint, vanilla and wildflowers wafting all around him ( hopefully seeping into his sheets so that they smell like her) which belonged to the most beautiful inside and out, kind, caring, adorkable, optimistic troll he loves with all his heart. 

Please tell me I'm not dreaming that Poppy is in my bed all up in my personal bubble cause if I am dreaming, no one is allowed to wake me up (not in this century at least). I wanna keep dreaming that I have Poppy in my arms for as long as I can before my alarm goes off and interrupts my lovely dream of holding the troll I love in my arms where I can breathe in her scent and feel how amazing it is to have Poppy in my arms. 

(She's the only one I will allow willingly to hug me during hug time or whenever Poppy decides it's "hug time, which of course it almost every minute cause my girl is definitely a hugger. When it's a hug with Poppy then it's heaven on earth and a treat for all the senses; with other trolls it's just an annoyance that I will only "allow" for only a second before I pull away and refuse to be hugged for the rest of the day; I have been known to hold my arms out in front of me and say "no hugs" in a firm but clear voice).

"Uh Poppy, are you awake? How in Troll Village did you make it all the way from your pod through Misty Meadows to the bunker? Are you ok? Did any of the dangerous or unknown creatures hurt you? Um can you please wake up so I can check you out for any bruises or cuts? Come wakey wakey Pops, I know I am disturbing your beauty sleep, not that you need it, but I need to check you out to see if you are hurt then you can go back to sleep. 

Or did you have a nightmare that scared you so badly that you needed to come all this way for some troll to comfort you or chase away the bad dream? Not that you need an excuse to come to see me cause you are always welcome in the bunker, I mean I did give you a key so of course you know you are welcome here or you wouldn't just have used your key to enter the bunker."

"Shh too much talking my beloved worrywart, who's worrying for nothing, there was no one but a lovesick troll on her way to snuggle and cuddle with her man was out this late at night and no nightmares or injuries happened so put that adorable worrying aside and join me in the lovely world of dreaming. Tomorrow when we wake up I will gush about how much I love you, I do love you with all my heart, and then you will gush about how much you love me, hopefully just as much as I love you, which will lead to us spending the entire day kissing, snuggling, cuddling and overall being the lovey dovey, mushy, gushy couple that our friends and family will cheer and coo over at first. 

Don't worry my love sooner rather then later our friends and family will probably lovingly, playfully and teasingly gripe us for being such a openly in love couple but we won't listen to them cause we are head over heels in love and aren't afraid to show the world that fact. Now shhhh stop talking and go back to sleep; goodnight Branch I love you. Mwah, sorry honey but I am too sleepy to give you a kiss right now but you best believe that tomorrow I will make up for the missed kiss tenfold."

Branch was dumbstruck at Poppy just sleepily rambling that not only did she love him but actually wanted to be in a romantic relationship with him, out of the trolls who live in the village the queen and angel of Troll Village loves him (he still couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming but from what Poppy just said tomorrow she will not only use her words but also gestures of love to prove what she said tonight is the truth and they will be 100% awake for it so there will be no misunderstandings). So for now he was just ecstatic that Poppy said the three words he had been wanting to say as well as hear for years while in his arms looking all adorabley sleepy and yet still beautiful so he settled back down and drifted off to dreamland; willing tomorrow to come quickly so Poppy and he could start their own fairy tale ending to begin already.


	5. Branch's New Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Branch gets injured and wakes up in another reality. Will he get home or be stuck in this alternative reality forever?

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody but the plot and the characters that I made up. So don't sue. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as I did writing it.   
Summary: Branch gets injured which sends him into an alternative reality where everything and everyone is different then reality. Will he get back to his reality? 

Ok so this isn't how I thought my day would go when I woke up this morning; I guess the old saying: "be careful what you wish for" is true. I will 100% admit that I wish daily that Poppy and the rest of the village would listen to me for once when I try to point out the unsafe activities and actions of the residents of Troll Village instead of doing one of the following: roll their eyes, ignore me completely and continue being unsafe or patronize me with fake platitudes or phony baloney smiles which make me feel as small as the smallest bug crawling over the earth. 

I also wish that Poppy would give this troll a clue into what she's thinks and feels about me; sometimes she treats or talks to me in a way that makes me feel like she is just as head over heels in love with me as I am with her. This, of course, makes my heart leap with utter happiness and joy and gives me the courage to confess my love to the only troll, besides Grandma and Mama ,I have ever and will ever love. 

Then Poppy says or does something that just screams "friendzone" which stops me in my tracks and makes me swallow my love confession cause obviously I was dead wrong about the type of relationship Poppy and I have. Every time that happens I have to lock my love in the vault of my heart, it feels like my heart is broken right in half that aches with each beat of it so that it gets harder and harder each day to put a smile on my face and pretend to be enjoying life and the people who care about me when my heart is broken. But my emotional aches and pains will never cease until the day I know for absolute sure that my love feels the exact same way about me so until then I will always have a knot of dread/ sadness in my heart of being considered just one of Poppy's best friends and not her suitor. I have dreamed about being Poppy's suitor for many mornings and nights and might have; ok so no maybes about it, I have many times wished on any and all the stars that I could find in the night sky, but who's counting?.

This particular day he was out scavenging for his weekly provisions when someone called out: "Branch! Watch Out!" but unfortunately the call came a little too late as a flying at top speed troll slammed into him during the Sunday game of glitterball which knocked him out cold. Curiously when Branch opened his eyes again he was back in his bunker like he had never woken up that morning with a massive headache. " How big was that troll that practically ran me over? Cause they definitely ate their Wheaties this morning. How did I get back into my bunker? No troll has a key to it and I know I locked the front door when I went out this morning so unless they somehow found my spare key, it's a mystery of how I got back home while knocked out cold. I guess I have some questions to ask my fellow trolls so buck up Branch, take some peppermint essential oil for the pain and go get some answers."

Branch left his bunker to find the world and his fellow trolls had changed a lot while he "slept"; instead of practically bouncing off the walls with singing at the top of their lungs and dancing till they dropped in exhaustion each and every troll was wrapped like mummies in bubble wrap so the only thing that could be seen were their eyes and their noses poking out along with wearing helmets, oven mitts and construction boots as accessories to their weird "outfit". Every pod was also covered in the same bubble wrap as their residents but also had thick and heavy chains held together by heavy duty locks wrapped around it. In fact all of troll village seemed to be on lockdown; no one seemed to be singing, dancing or even doing their normal activities like glitterball, riding critter bugs, hug hour or fencing, all Branch saw were mega amounts of safety equipment, bucket loads of padding and everybody going the speed of snails as they waddled around the village. 

"What is happening around here? Why is everybody dressed like bubble wrap Eskimos? Why do the pods look like impenetrable fortresses? Was there an attack of Snorples? Has there been a threat of Growlbeasts to the village?" Branch inquired to the troll closest to him as she walked past slowly with her bag of groceries only to have the poor troll gasp in utter fright and immediately dropped to her hands and knees with her face pressed into the earth shuddering like she had just come face to face with the scariest, extremely dangerous and humongous monster and the only thing she could do was beg for her life while cowering in fear.

"Oh no King Branch, there is nothing wrong, nothing can ever go wrong or be wrong in this trollopia that Queen Poppy and you have blessed upon us, your undeserving and lower then low followers. We are just following our wise, noble, safety conscious, smart, caring, understanding, compassionate, empathetic and inspirational leader and ruler's advice, wishes and ruling to the tee. We all understand that the reason you decreed the way you did, once again in your wise, compassionate and caring way, was to guarantee each and every troll is always safe, sound and without even a scratch or bruise on their bodies. So we are all required to wear protective clothing and equipment when out of our safety pods, no singing or dancing in anyway cause some troll could strain their vocal cords or hurt themselves or others with dangerous dance moves and no games will be played unless you or Queen Poppy give the stamp approval beforehand. 

Is there some troll not following one of your easy to follow and wise rules? Cause that troll will have to go into the Fungeon (dungeon that is trollified to "punish" a naughty troll) for a time out. If there are Growlbeasts or any other horrible creature out there trying to harm us, no one is scared cause we know that you and Queen Poppy will figure out an amazing plan to get rid of such a dangerous creature and keep everyone safe just like you two always do.

Oh goody goody gumdrops it's time for "Thanking King Branch" song and dance; gather around everyone!" Soon every troll in the village was surrounding Branch still dressed in their "safety" gear to sing and dance together a catchy, toe tapping and in sync song about how blessed, ecstatic and honored Troll Village was to have a leader, ruler and troll like Branch leading, guiding and ruling over them and how he will save them from any and all kind of danger so no troll will ever get even a bruise in their lifetime. 

Ok so I know that I said that I wished that my fellow trolls would listen to my advice about some, emphasis on the word some, safety rules and regulations that will make us all happier and safer. That is just how my world works; everyone plays their games and I try not to meddle into their lives or worry myself to death about someone getting hurt but sometimes a troll has to speak up about the dangerous things other trolls are doing and suggest others ways to have fun. But this is ridiculous; there is no way I would ever want anyone to be terrified of me or worship me like some God so they go extremely overboard for the sake of "listening to me"; just thinking about how in this universe I am both revered and feared makes me feel itchy and uncomfortable in my own skin and a nauseous feeling in the pit in my stomach. 

I need to talk to Poppy about changing how our fellow trolls feel about and act around me and getting rid of these obviously silly and weird safety rules and regulations (and that is something coming from me; Mr. Safety Nerd-one of Poppy's many adorkable nicknames for yours truly). I can't believe I am not uncomfortable, anxious or overwhelmed at the thought of being the King of Troll Village and Poppy's husband (even if it's only in another universe). That's how I always feel whenever one of the Snack Pack or even former King Peppy mentions/teases/ insinuate that's mine and Poppy's future as well as mentioning for the hundredth time that Poppy and I are hair over feet in love with each other but are too blind to admit it out loud. I wonder where I would find my queen and wife, in this universe, Poppy?

Technically Branch didn't find fake Poppy as she found him first by glomping onto him in a tight bear hug and began raining kisses all over his face while cooing: "There's my Branchie. I was looking all over for you. I missed you terribly when I woke up this morning all alone in our bed without my teddy bear to cuddle, snuggle and pour all my love upon. I couldn't eat any breakfast cause I needed to find my King and make sure he was safe and sound, who needs food when I had to find my man and love upon him?. Why did you leave without telling me where you are going? Didn't you know I would be terribly worried about you?" ( Poppy pulled out the "big guns" of making Branch truly understand how upset and worried she was by putting a puppy pout on her rosebud mouth complete with trembling lips and teary-could cry at any moment eyes as she waited for the answer)

Branch scrambled for a good reason of why fake him would have left home so early that wouldn't result in fake Poppy bursting into tears or make that heartbreaking look on her beautiful face get even sadder but on the other hand he couldn't make his "excuse" too unbelievable cause he didn't want to technically lie to fake Poppy. (Lying isn't good for any relationship; a relationship should be based on honest to goodness truth and 100% trust between both parties) but he also had just "gotten" into this dimension so technically he would have to tell a little white lie to save face and fake Poppy's feelings so no matter what he did or said he was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

"Sorry sweetheart ( he had always dreamed of the day when he could call Poppy all the terms of endearment he had locked away in his head or journal but never had the nerve to say them out loud especially to Poppy's face) I just had a really busy day ahead of me. I had to go deep, like to the heart of, in Misty Meadows to gather wood, leaves, herbs, flowers and fresh water for Dr. Bloom's medicines and herbal treatments and for all the pods to have the resources they need for the upcoming winter and then I had my woods survival class to prepare for. Plus you looked just so gosh darn beautiful sleeping all comfy cozy wrapped up in the blankets this morning that I didn't have the heart to wake you up so I kissed your forehead, whispered "goodbye" and "I love you" and left you to your dreams. I didn't mean for you to be so worried and anxious about me that you didn't eat anything, that wasn't my plan at all. Why don't we go back to the pod and I will cook you up some of your favorite berry filled pancakes?" 

As Branch was mentally patting himself on the back with his quick thinking and realistic explanation ( come to think of it that is exactly what he should do once he gets back to his real world; winter will be on them soon enough and everyone needs the provisions needed to stay warm and heathy for the long months ahead), as he gently but lovingly lead fake Poppy down the trail to the royal pod. The pod was also wrapped in bubble wrap, locks and chains, not that she made it easy to walk or even move as fake Poppy practically wrapped her whole body around him like a second skin so it was almost like he was giving fake Poppy a "piggyback" so the walk back was a slow process but eventually they made it. 

Soon the small kitchen was filled with the delicious baking of batter and berries as Branch manned the pan as Poppy sat on the counter beside him with her heart eyes and gooey "I love him so much that there can't be any space between us" look. "Poppy I wanted to talk to you about something that has been troubling me. First of all, I know I am safety conscious but Trolls not only wrapping themselves in bubble wrap and wearing helmets and big clunky boots but also decking their pods out like an impermeable fortress is even too crazy and over the top for me and if I think it's too much then we have a problem here. Everyone seems to think this "protection" plus the no singing, dancing or playing games rules was my idea and that you were totally ok with that ruling and 100% supportive of me. 

I mean Trolls are known for our amazing one of a kind singing, dancing skills and overall encompassing happiness and loving life & optimistic personality but this town has been drained of what makes them Trolls so now they are more like mindless sheep who can't think or do anything without yours and mine's approval first. I would never in a trillion years ever want to be the type of ruler who squashes his fellow trolls' individuality and the ability to think for themselves, that's not me or the type of troll I want to be and I hate that there are trolls out there who think that is the kind of troll I am. I want to be the ruler who is fair, just, listens to his fellow trolls' ideas, thoughts, feelings and wants, is considerate of others, understanding, compassionate, down to earth etc, not one that everyone is deathly afraid of.

I am also 100% sure that the Queen or Poppy that I know and love would you never ever agree with such ridiculous, inhumane ideas or allow anyone to be a tyrant towards the trolls she knows and cares for. The Poppy in my world would at first scoff at me and give me her patent "you're kidding me right?" look before going into a whole spiel of "how incredibly silly and absurd my ideas are and how I need a huge dose of reality before I go back to the drawing board to come up with ideas that will actually benefit troll village not just myself." but her words and her touch on my hand would have a kind, caring, nice, listening to what I am saying but straight to the point with some room for budging tone to it. 

That's the Poppy I want and need right now so please could the real Poppy step forward and once again be the voice of reason to my narrowminded and pessimistic thoughts and ideas of how life and people should be like ? Come on Branch, time to wake up. Wakey wakey, it's time to wake up in your bed in your bunker where you can go outside and be smothered and surrounded by glitter, laughter of utter happiness of life, dancing, singing and group hugs until you can't breathe and start to feel overwhelmed by your Poppy and fellow trolls. But you won't care cause it means you are back where you belong with the people who truly care about you, who might not always listen to your thoughts, feelings or ideas but at least they respect the fact that I think and act differently then them and love me regardless. Come on Branch, wake up!" 

Fake Poppy skipped over and once again hung all over Branch; "I am the real Poppy silly billy. Whose a silly billy? Branch is a silly billy, you were the smarty pants who used your big, smarticle, beautiful brain and utter and completely amaziness to come up with all these smart, protective and awe inspiring ideas of how to keep our fellow trolls safe cause we both love and care for everyone in the village. I don't think I like this other Poppy; she sounds super duper boring, not kind or caring in any way and definitely not a troll who cares about the wellbeing of her subjects so I am pretty sure that no one listens or respects her as their Queen. Why would you want a wife/Queen like that? She will never love you, not like I do. 

Not only do I love you unconditionally, heart, mind and soul, but I respect you as a troll, my soulmate, my husband, my one true love and king wholeheartedly; everything you touch and say is golden and treasured and valued by everyone in the village. Why would you even think there's another place that could surpass this heaven on earth? Why would you ever want to leave this paradise? What do I have to do to change your mind about leaving me and our truly perfect village? You can't leave me Branch, I love you too much to let you leave without taking me along. I can't live without you, you are the air I breathe, my home, my happiness, my life, my love, my everything and where you go I go cause if I ever lost you I wouldn't be able to go on with life. So please don't leave me Branch!" 

Fake Poppy might have started out all lovely dovey and affectionate ( he wanted Poppy to be affectionate and lovey dovey towards him in real life because it meant he could openly show and tell the troll of his dreams of his unconditional love but in this universe this type of love was extremely constricting, uncomfortable, needy and too obsessive so Branch was desperate to not only get out of this pod and the fake Poppy's strangling arms in one piece but somehow find his way home). But she quickly turned into an extremely clingy, whinny and suffocating women who need some mental health help cause she sounded like she was emotionally blackmailing him not to leave her or she will hurt herself. So Branch did the time old trick of: "What's that over there? with pointing over to a blank white wall and when fake queen let go of him and looked over to where he was pointing, he dashed out of the pod like it was on fire and just kept running.

Branch's brain scrambled for a quick plan of how to escape the fake Poppy running after him calling: "Branch stop! Where are you going? Wait for me! Quick someone grab him! Don't let him get away!" which had what seemed like the entire Troll village stopping what they were doing to run after him which only hastened his footfalls as his lungs screamed at him to stop so they could get the desperately needed air in and his muscles were starting to tense up in tiredness and cramps. Branch ignored his body's warnings and only upped his speed; his eyes scanning the horizon for anywhere he could hide and his eyes lit up when he saw a small burrow in a tree trunk which he dove into, curled up into a ball and prayed no one would find him. Luckily every troll ran past him so within a few minutes of staying as still as he possibly could Branch was able to let out a soundless sigh of relief before slowly coming out of his hiding place which unfortunately resulted in him hitting his head on a low hanging branch which knocked him out cold. 

"Branch wakey wakey. Please open those beautiful sky blues, let me know that you are still in there and then you can continue your beauty sleep for as long as you want. Come on please open your eyes; you have been sleeping since we brought you to Dr. Bloom who says that injuries from a concussion usually appear 3-6 hours after the injury and that we were suppose to have kept you awake to make sure your noggin is in tip top shape. Please wake up; you can nag, scold and admonish me all you want about the dangers and safety risks about playing such a "dangerous" game without the proper safety equipment for both the trolls playing and the traps of the game and that your accident could have been prevented if we had just listened to you. I would welcome a scolding I just want my Branch back in the land of the living and be okey dokey. Pretty please with tons of glitter and candy on top come back to me Branch" 

Oh yeah I'm home again in my village, with the real love of my life and I am over the moon happy that I am back. Now to open these anvils that are my eyes and move my heavy as a boulder head to reassure my love that I am back in the land of the living; come on body work with me. Me, myself and I know I despise hearing or seeing Poppy so distressed or any other feelings then her upbeat, happy, adorkable, positive, optimistic and unconditional love radiating from her heart outward to anyone in her vicinity personality so I got to show her that her Branch who likes seeing her happy especially when I are the troll who put that beautiful heart stopping smile on her face is still in the land of the living so rise and shine man. 

"Honey I'm home. Don't be sad beautiful lady; your Branch is back; it might take awhile to be fully okey dokey but for you I will work my butt off to be ok sooner rather then later. Now let me see that beautiful smile before Dr Bloom checks me out and says I can go back to sleep. There's the smile I love; now nighty night Poppy; I'll see you when I wake up again." To Poppy's lovestruck ears there was nothing that sounded as heavenly as the gravelly sound of Branch's voice cooing to her about how he's awake and already on the road to recovery so of course she had to fulfill his wish by giving him a watery smile which seemed to satisfy him as he drifted off to sleep again. As Branch fell deep down into sleep he felt a familiar pair of lips press a series of soft kisses on his hands, cheeks and forehead and heard a whispered: 'I love you" which he returned as sleep claimed him. Man there's really no place like home.


	6. Broppy's 1st Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Poppy and Branch's 1st Christmas as husband and wife. Come along and read all about how it went.

First of all: Merry Christmas to everyone. I know it's still days until Christmas but I thought I might as well wish everyone Merry Christmas while I think of it.   
I don't own anybody but the story idea and any characters I made up. 

"Ok so I know that I've said many times that all Poppy has to do is make puppy dog eyes complete with a pout or a "pretty please with sugar on top" or "please do it for me Branch?" and my whole body starting with my brain melts like butter on the sidewalk of the hottest summer day so all I can say is: "ok" to whatever my wife is asking me to do.   
Believe me I have tried all the usual tactics to resist the pull of my Poppy's hypnotic eyes or heart-melting smile like adverting my eyes and not looking directly into Poppy's beautiful pleading eyes as I tell my wife the reasons why what she is asking me to do is an extremely bad idea that will more then likely result in me either getting injured or being highly embarrassed in front of my fellow trolls. 

Both aren't options that are highly appealing to me although I don't know anyone who says: " I will definitely do this thing that is guaranteed to either get me injured or embarrass me immensely in front of my peers, it looks or sounds like it's a party of a time" unless that troll is fearless and doesn't get embarrassed easily which isn't me at all.   
But my darling, lovable, up for trying anything and everything at least once especially when it could lead to her having oodles of fun, adventurous and very persuasive wife will do that baby voice with coos and murmurs of devotion and love that always makes me look up like the lovesick dumbie that I am which lets her doe eyes trap and pull me into her idea each and every time, it's inevitable in the end.

"So because, I am hoping that many husbands around the world have the same weakness as me, I can't say ''no" to my wife I am now roped into helping to not only decorate Troll Village for the upcoming Christmas season as well as Poppy and mine's pod but also to bake at least 4 different types of Christmas cookies, squares and other sweets to go on the treat table at the Christmas dinner where each and every Troll in the village will be attending. Oh goody, me around electricity, food ingredients, breakable precious irreplaceable ornaments and easily tearable tinsel so doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster at all" (sarcasm people and loads of it). "

Branch was exhausted; he had face planted into bed last night and fell fast asleep still fully clothed; Poppy had undressed him and redressed him in his pjs before planting kisses on his forehead as she tucked her husband into bed before she got ready for bed. Since December 1st he was at the flea market until 8 pm being Santa for the children (another thing that Poppy had puppy pouted him into doing: "Please Branch, the children would love to sit on Santa's lap and ask him their burning questions. It would make their Christmas extra special and it would mean the world to me. Tell you what if you do this I will not only be your Mrs. Claus but owe you a 100% guarantee that I will do whatever activity you want to do with absolutely no complaining.".

"I might have been puppy pouted into being Santa but I will totally admit that it wasn't so bad; the children were respectable towards me with no screaming, crying or pulling on my beard or hat. The best part is that they looked at me with utter adoration and hero worship like I was actually Santa Claus spending my busiest time of the year sitting in the middle of the square listening to children's wishes and talking to them. It made me sit up taller, "ho ho" a little louder and with more gusto, smile a little wider and be more "Santaish" towards all Trolls I met during my day. 

Poppy was right; playing Santa did put a smile on so many faces which included my beautiful, adorable, Christmas loving wife, who might I say looked absolutely gorgeous in her Mrs. Claus outfit though I wonder if the red velvet dress is as soft as it looks. It made my heart swell right out of my chest whenever I saw my wife with one of the biggest ear to ear million watts smile on her face to go along with the "Golly do I love this Troll! Just when I thought I knew my husband, he does something incredible sweet for the little ones of the village and I fall in love with him all over again" look on her face. I already know what my "favor" will be; a whole day where Poppy and I are off royal duty and we can be husband and wife in our own love bubble doing whatever we want to do and just overall act like the trolls in love and married couple that we are."

"Branch, my love it's time to get up. We have bucket loads of Christmas cheer to spread so up and at em' mister sleepyhead. I need my adorable, lovable grumpy Christmas elf's help so grumble and moan all you want. You were the silly goose who stayed up late planning out all the details of each pod's decorations as well as making sure we had all the ingredients for each sweet treat before you even crawled into bed to snuggle with me, but I am afraid that your majesty needs to get up right now; your Queen and wife implores you. 

Ohhh I get it; you are "pretending" to be a grumpypants who doesn't want to get up so that you will get plenty of kisses from your loving wife. I see right through your "plan" but if lots of kisses is what my king wants then who am I to say "no?"." Poppy cooed as she tried unsuccessfully to wake her husband up by shaking his shoulders, prying the pillow off his head to gently but firmly hit Branch in the head, back and tush with it, trying to pry open his eyes with a playful and childish "Branchy are you in there?" and whispering "Good morning my love. It's time to get up" in his ear with plenty of soft kisses on his lips, cheeks and forehead. "Gee even kisses won't wake up Prince Charming; I guess True Love's Kiss isn't strong enough to wake up Sleeping Handsome. Oh sprinkles, I guess I have to resort to Plan T, Tickling you until you open up those sky blue eyes and get your cute butt out of bed! Don't shy away from me now, you asked to be tickled when even kisses wouldn't get you out of bed." Soon Branch was laughing so hard and loud as he tried to wiggle, roll and duck and dodge his wife's tickling and probing fingers and hair; he kept on rolling and wiggling around that he rolled himself right off the bed in a tangle of bedsheets. "Good you're up! Now get going Mr.; you don't want your apple cinnamon oatmeal to go cold so get that cute butt into gear." Poppy sauntered off to begin preparing her own gingerbread oatmeal while Branch started to work on untangling himself from the sheets.

"Whatever you do Branch, don't look down cause it's a long long way down. Just think about hanging these lights onto their individual hooks as fast but as effective as possible; the sooner you hang the lights the sooner that your feet are on the ground where they belong. Come on you silly light get on your hook like a good little Christmas light; why won't you go on there? Wow this ladder is starting to shake a little; come on light get on there. Whoa!" Branch must have been leaning over a little too far in order to hook the uncooperating light on its right hook on the roof of his and Poppy's pod cause the ladder soon began to sway until the ladder went one way and his body went the other way which entangled him in the long string of lights he had been painstakingly hanging for the last hour till Branch became a Christmas light piñata swaying from side to side from the eaves of the pod. 

He must have been quite a sight to see and since he obviously wasn't hurt, well physically at least, Poppy started to giggle behind her hands until her bubbling and bells ringing laughter burst out from behind her hands. Poppy laughed and laughed till her tummy started to hurt and not even Branch's "Stop laughing Poppy! It's not funny! Help me down!" complete with major glaring could stop the laughter. Eventually she did stop laughing long enough to unplug the lights so that Branch could be gently and slowly lowered to the tree branch so she could untangle the lights string by string being as carefully as she could. Once he was free the husband and wife team worked together, Poppy starting at one end of the roof and Branch at the other, to string the lights around the top of their pod. 

After a rewarding cup of nice hot extra chocolately with loads of marshmallows cocoa, it was time to decorate the inside of the pod which meant that Branch had to go into the creepy, dark, musty, dusty crawlspace with a flashlight to drag out heavy box after box of Christmas tree ornaments and other decorations that Poppy insisted needed to be put in their "perfect" place around the pod. .At the start of December, Poppy had gone on a mistletoe splurge where she put up mistletoe everywhere from every doorframe, cupboards, the top of the fridge and window frames so that she could plant a soft, love filled and promising kiss on either her husband's lips or cheeks whenever and wherever he went in their pod.

It seemed like Branch couldn't turn around without getting kisses from his wife though he wasn't complaining as they still gave him the same butterflies and gooey melting feeling in his tummy he had gotten since Poppy and his first kiss 2 years ago. Soon there were no empty or unused space in their entire pod; each room was filled to the brim with Christmas cheer (even the bathroom and kitchen) which was kind of making Branch feel a little claustrophobic. For the last two Christmases his bunker had had the minimal amount of decorations and the smallest spruce tree he could find in the forest with once again the smallest amount of ornaments on it, most of them were ones made by the trollings in the daycare or kindergarten classes but there were a couple of ones from his childhood. But because he knew that his beloved wife absolutely adored Christmas and wanted to spread as much Christmas cheer and good tidings to as many Trolls as possible he sucked his anxiety way down inside. He didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas with his anxiety and introvert tendencies let alone his Poppy so he went along with his wife's holiday cheer, celebration and decorating cause he loved her more then being an introvert.

Next item on the list was to make the 4 dozen of cookies, squares and other sweets; good thing the festive music was playing to up the mood cause Branch was an embarrassing cook's helper; he cracked the eggs over the bowl and ended up with cracked shells in the bowl which Poppy had to dig out with a spoon, he didn't stir the marshmallows and rice krispies fast enough so they hardened too fast into what seemed like concrete so Poppy had to pour water into the mixture to soften it up and he almost burnt the caramel, it was the color of tree bark, smoking and beginning to foam, to name a few examples of his "whoopsies". 

"Put away that grumpy face, it's no big deal. Everyone has cooking/baking whoopsie daisies when they are learning to cook/bake; it's part of the course. If you don't believe me ask dad, he will tell you all of my oopsies, like mixing up sugar and salt, forgetting to put the butter in the batter, putting too much butter or water into the batter or getting so involved in my scrapbooking of my baking with daddy day that my extra chocolate chip cookies ended up burnt to crispy lumps of coal that took hours of soaking in the soapy water and lots of elbow grease scrubbing to clean. 

Come on Mr. Grump Pants cheer up or at least smile; I will give you the biggest kiss if you smile; oh was that a little smile I saw? No, ok you asked for it." Poppy puckered up her lips and chased her dashing, ducking but laughing and teasing her right back husband all around their pod until she caught up with him in the family room where she tackled him onto the couch, straddled him and proceeded to kiss the air right out of them both as their limbs and hair wrapped around each other until no one really could tell who was who. Good thing Poppy had had the mind to set a timer for the baking cookies or their expressive kissing session would have been interrupted by the smoke detector, overall it was a good way to spend 8 minutes. 

As Poppy and Branch continued baking Branch's confidence in his baking skills grew with each gentle, loving and patient instructions and hand over hand guidance from his wife until he was so confident that his "lessons" stopped but his flirting only upped itself. He would deliberately grab Poppy's hand to eat the chocolate chips right out of her hand, feed her bits of a cooked square in between kisses, wrap his arms around Poppy from behind as she put the wet ingredients into the bowl to distract her with tender kisses to her neck and shoulders and pull her away from her baking to waltz around the kitchen to the slow Christmas songs. Not that Poppy really minded; she never minded her husband being his touchy feely, affectionate, romantic, sweet, flirting and loving self especially when she was the extremely lucky and blessed troll on the receiving end of all that affection and love. 

As the treats cooled down Poppy and Branch decided it was time to cut down the "perfect" Christmas tree that could be found in the Marvelous Forest although the couple disagreed on what made the "perfect" tree: "That tree is too short, it has to be at least foot taller then us" "Too tall, it would never fit in our living room" "Too many needles which equals a big mess that we have to clean up daily." "Aww that tree looks so sorry, all scrawny and sad looking maybe we should get that one" until both of them could agree that they had found the perfect tree: not too tall or short with the perfect amount of needles so Branch started to cut down the tree. 

It was a lot harder then he had imagined; his axe would suddenly get stuck in the tree trunk so Branch literally had to use elbow grease as well as all of his strength to get the axe out only to get it stuck again minutes later. Finally the tree was cut all the way through to land with a loud thud onto the snow and the couple worked together to drag the heavy tree home where it was placed in front of the bay window and by the cheery, sing- along and nostalgic Christmas music playing on the cd player was decorated to the nines.   
Between the smell of evergreen from the tree, the delicious aroma of baked goods cooling on the counter, the roast beef that had been cooking in the crock pot all afternoon and the peppermint scent of the candles burning all over the living and dining room, the house smelt like like Christmas. As Christmas music, both nostalgic and new classics, played softly in the background, Branch and Poppy sat down for a delicious, warms a troll up from inside out, moist, tender roast beef, mashed garlic flavored mash potatoes, corn, green beans and fresh from the oven soft rolls with a plate of the goodies they had made that day for dessert. 

"Dinner was delicious but ohh does my tummy hurt. I ate way too much and didn't need those goodies afterwards. Why did I have those treats? All I want to do is have a nice long soak in the tub and hunker down in my warmest pjs with my wife and just enjoy our beautiful tree; that's my idea of a perfect Christmas Eve. Really Poppy, you want to subject us to another one of those clichés, cheesy, not romantic and in no way have original storyline or developed characters Hallmark movies? Come on, they pretty much have the same storyline which is recycled over and over again with minor tweaks to make them seem "interesting" or "new". But since my hopeless romantic wife adores these kind of "and they lived happily ever after" cheesy love stories I will try my hardest to bite my tongue and watch one with my Poppy cause I have learned long ago that love is all about compromising and picking your battles. Goodness only knows how many activities and things you do for my sake even if you are extremely bored or think they are dull. So please tell me the storyline of tonight's feature film darling wife."

As it sometimes happens when you get up at an early time in the morning then are on the run for most of the day with barely any downtime, once you sit down you can barely keep your eyes open and keep nodding off which is exactly what happened to Branch and Poppy. They barely made it to the half hour mark, they took turns gently shaking each other's shoulders to wake up their catnapping spouse awake only to themselves nod off a minute later, before giving up, turning off all Christmas lights and the lamps, leaving out the chocolate chip cookies and milk plus crisp carrots for Santa and his reindeer and snuggling deep and cozy in their bed for a long winter's nap; they were both asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

"Merry Christmas my love. Branch, you gotta wake up, it's Christmas morning. Come on sleepyhead. Christmas waits for no troll so get up, up, up, there's a lot of Christmas fun to be had; a yummy breakfast to be eaten, a snowy winter wonderland to explore and play in, a floor full of presents to open and treasure and then another delicious banquet with our fellow trolls tonight. There's no time to sleep; I don't want to celebrate Christmas all by myself; that's not Christmas to me so up you go Mr. Come on do I have to tickle you again, you hate being tickled Mr. Very Ticklish, but a girl has to do whatever she needs to wake up her hubby though I do have another idea to wake up my sleepyhead...."  
For the second time in two days; Branch was awakened suddenly but not unpleasantly by his wife; this time Poppy placed wet raspberries on the sides of his neck and cheeks which made Branch giggle like a little child until he screamed for mercy: "Ok Slave Driver, I surrender; I'm getting up but first my imp of a wife has to get off me and, I never thought I would ever say this, stop kissing me." As they were eating their delicious breakfast of fresh berry pancakes they opened their meager amount of presents; either clothes, their favorite sweets from the candy shoppe or toiletries or other items that their spouse was told, knew or had noticed their spouse needed, wanted or had a certain fondness for.

Branch got his grandma's fluffleberry dessert and Poppy got her favorite peppermint marshmallow cookies along with personalized handmade gifts such as a watercolor portrait of Queen Lavender holding and gazing lovingly into the face of her beloved baby daughter wrapped up in her light pink blanket and a had to search through many trunks of Rosiepuff's long packed away treasures to find a letter written to Branch to be read on his wedding day. Both gifts were received with many happy/sad tears at the piece of their childhood and the memories of their deceased loved one that came back to them full force holding onto these treasures but with hugs and kissing away the tears both were given places of honor in the pod. 

Afterwards both Poppy and Branch dressed themselves in so many layers of clothing that it was almost impossible to walk without waddling and went outside in the softly falling picture perfect snowy day to have some snowy fun. While Poppy enjoyed the wintery view, Branch was being an imp by silently rolling up multiple small snowballs to throw at his wife, sneaking up behind her, putting an arm around her shoulders like he was coming to enjoy the scene with her but smooshing a snowball right on the top of her head then running off facing backwards laughing his head off and shooting the rest of his balls at his wife's body as she bent down to make snowballs to return fire. 

Soon the forest was filled with laughter and the gleeful shouts of triumph as the sound of snowballs hitting their target could be heard over the playful taunts as the epicist of epic snowball fights were being had between husband and wife. It was an even match with Branch and Poppy each hitting their spouse with the same amount of snowballs, unfortunately the snowball fight came to an end when Branch, who was running backwards still taunting his wife while throwing his snowballs in rapid fire, didn't see the tree coming up behind him went smack back first into the tree which caused the snow on the branches to come crashing down upon him in an avalanche which instantly buried him.  
"Oh no, my poor Branch is buried in the snow. Quick someone get a St. Bernard to rescue my Branchie out of the snow pile. Don't worry darling, I will save you with my incredible digging and snow flinging skills. Hold on sweetie, Poppy's coming to get you." Poppy teased with mock concern as she struggled not to laugh and dig as fast as she could but some giggles popped out of her mouth as she uncovered her husband who had an unhappy/ slightly embarrassed look on his face and helped dust himself off. 

"I said this once and I will say it again; there's no way that such a small thin blade could ever hold up my entire body weight or not send me plunging into the freezing water below which means that there is no way on this earth that I will ever go on this untrustworthy ice on those thin blades. I will also once again try to convince you not to go on the ice but if you do go on the ice all I ask is you wear protective equipment so you don't get hurt though you will have to wait until I go home to get them and you need to skate along the edge so I can keep my eyes on you." Branch stated as he anxiously looked from the white figure skates with the thin blades to the halfway packed skating rink where couples and families were happily skating around to the Christmas songs playing from the speakers spread out along the rink.

"Stop worrying my beloved worry wort; like I told you before; ice skating skates are designed to be strong enough that trolls can confidently skate on ice, which can't be thin to the point of being able to break through or I would have banned trolls from skating on Lake Melody a long time ago cause I don't want anyone to get hurt. Also even though I do love you with all my heart I will not be wearing any protective gear besides a helmet and will once again try to convince my hubby to join me in the time old tradition of ice skating with me. Please Branch it's fun to skate and I promise to hold your hand the entire time and not go super duper fast, we will go as slow as you want or need to, I pinky promise." Poppy said as she laced up her laces, readjusted her hat under her helmet and made sure her scarf was wound around her neck as she tried to assure her Branch that she was perfectly safe and maybe entice him to join her. 

Branch didn't automatically join Poppy on the ice; he just followed her on land around the rink keeping his eyes laser focused on her as she happily skated and sang along to the music weaving in and out of the other trolls enjoying the icy activity. He soon became bored watching other trolls having fun without him and walking around in a circle repeatedly so he decided to troll up and embarrass himself immensely in front of everyone in the village by allowing his loving wife to teach him how to skate like he was a trolling and not a grown troll. 

Of course Poppy was overjoyed and more then happy that Branch had decided to join her on the ice and did just as she pinky promised; she never let Branch's side or let go of his hand the entire time they were skating. She held both of his hands as she skated backwards teaching him how to push off the ice with one foot then the other in between small periods of gliding. It was a slow process and many trolls especially trollings kept passing them but soon enough Branch seemed to have enough confidence to skate with Poppy only holding one hand though his strides were small, shaky and he still wiggled and wobbled as he skated. He hated to admit it but skating wasn't as bad or dangerous as he previously thought and no one laughed at him or even really noticed how bad of a skater he was; they were more focused on their own ice skating experience to care about his skating. Poppy and Branch stopped skating only when their toes and fingers were so cold that they were numb and starting to hurt so they went back to their pod to eat hot and yummy grilled cheese sandwiches with an extra layer of cheese along with a thick slice of bologna mixed in and hot chocolate with marshmallows with one hand while the other hand was lovingly and gently massaging the frozen little piggies of their spouse by a roaring, crackling, toasty fire in the fireplace. After the couple were defrosted and tummies were filled with yummy hot food, it was time for some more snowy fun aka sledding down the local sledding hill on Cupcake Drive and making snowtrolls in Misty Meadows.

"Everybody put your hands up and cheer as loud as you can if you are ready to go on a fast paced, downhill thrill ride down Slippery Hill! Me! I am! And so is my Branch. (takes ahold of Branch's wrists to raise them above his head as her hubby just lovingly and good naturally rolls his eyes at his wife's antics). For the safety of everyone in the sled please keep your arms and legs inside the sled during the ride, please fasten your seatbelts (wraps Branch's legs and arms around her) and enjoy the ride. Here we go: 5...4...3...2...1.. GO!" On the word "Go", Poppy pushed off the snow to get the sled moving down the hill. Soon the sled became like a rocket shooting down the hil at speeds that made the wind sing in Poppy and Branch's ear or slap them in the face as it rushed past them but from the amount of happy, having a blast screams and squeals in Branch's ear , it seemed like at least one of them was having fun. Branch's face was buried into his wife's shoulder as well as he had a death grip on Poppy for the first couple of rides down the hill until he realized how silly he was being; obviously nothing bad had happened the times they had gone down the hill so why is he closing his eyes? Plus he couldn't really protect Poppy or steer the sled away from danger if he had his eyes closed and holding onto his wife like a trolling so he opened his eyes and loosened his hold on Poppy and actually started to enjoy sledding; though the trudge uphill to have another ride got a little tiring after some time.

When their sledding ride were over, it was time to make a snowtroll family; Poppy rolled the body and then the head for the mama troll with some help from her strong man when the snowballs got too heavy or cumbersome to move by herself. Then as Branch made the papa troll she went home to get the necessary and essential snowtrolls items such as carrots for the nose, raisins for the eyes, twizzlers for the mouth, scarfs, mittens, toques and sweaters (their snow family might be made out of snow but that doesn't mean they should freeze) and sticks for arms. Then husband and wife jointly made the baby girl trolling using some of Poppy's baby clothes then they stepped back to admire their "family" and had to say they deserved a high five for their amazing work. 

Since the sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping to the "brrrr" level it was time to return home to their cozy and warm pod as Poppy and Branch had the annual Trolls Christmas party to go to so they had their baths quickly (too bad that today was a kind of day that begged for a nice, leisuring, relaxing bubble bath) and dressed in their best dress clothes. "Why do I have to wear this stupid bowtie? It makes my head look big and clunky. I look dumb. No other troll will be wearing one so why do I?" Branch complained as Poppy gently tied his red plaid bowtie around his neck and then readjusted the shoulders of his dark red button down shirt before using the shirt to pull him forward for a firm, loving and definitely longer then a peck kiss 

"Because it makes you look so handsome. You are going to be the most handsomest troll in the entire banquet hall, not that I don't always think you are the most handsome troll even when you are wearing your normal leaves vest and shorts or covered in mud, Cuddlepups drool or goo from the Oggie Boogie bird. Can't a girl want to show off her amazing, loving and beyond handsome husband to her friends and family? Now stop complaining and help me zip up my dress; hey we match, you are wearing a dark red shirt and I am wearing a dark red velvet dress, I totally planned our clothing choices well."

As the sun was going down; the Christmas lights went on and the party began; Branch tried to be as sociable as he could. He was still learning the art of conversation and socializing after being alone for so many years so it was a work in progress because he still got overwhelmed easily and was still insecure in how "interesting" his thoughts, opinions and life would be to other trolls even after 3 years of being re-introduced into Troll Village society. It seemed like every troll at the party wanted to say: "How's married life going for you and Poppy?"( Branch and Poppy had been married for about 6 months at this point), "you and Poppy are doing a stupendous job ruling. We couldn't have asked for a better King and Queen" and "So what are your guys' holidays plans?" until he felt like a tape recorder saying the same thing over and over again to random people saying the same thing to him. 

Luckily by that time the banquet started and soon the conversation became few and between as forkfuls of delicious, hot and home cooked food were consumed and the scraping of forks against china plates were the only sounds anyone heard. As food was being digested, the children played some Christmas games such as "Guess the Christmas Character I Have Written on my Forehead", "Christmas Carol Pictionary", "Christmas Charades" and "Find Santa's Friends" to name a few as some of the adults helped the younger children play the games or cheered them on from the sidelines. The festivities lasted till midnight when even the adults couldn't keep their eyes open any longer so they gathered their dozing children up and went home. Overall both Branch and Poppy agreed this was one of the best Christmas of their lives.


End file.
